Stone - 25 - Collateral Damage

that I believe my enthusiasm in Georgia is due to the distance from Washington, rather than something in the Meriwether County water?”
    “Then I would insist on an additional retirement residence.”
    “In New York or Malibu?”
    “Both.”
    Will laughed heartily. “I’m not sure that the income from my memoirs will cover two additional houses.”
    “You forget that I will be publishing my memoirs, too.”
    “All right,” he said, “tell you what: I’ll buy the New York residence, and you buy Malibu.”
    “T’other way ’round,” she replied. “Your memoirs will bring more than mine, and Malibu is more expensive than New York.”
    “I don’t know if that’s true,” Will said. “After all, you’ve got your CIA background.”
    “Most of which I can’t write about.”
    “Oh, all right, I’ll buy the Malibu place.”
    “Deal,” she said.
    “I’m not sure how the Secret Service is going to take this news,” Will said. “I think they were counting on an easy life in the rural South.”
    “I don’t think they’ll have any trouble finding volunteers for Manhattan or Malibu.”
    “Good point.”
    Kate’s handbag rang. She rummaged around in it for a moment, then, in frustration, emptied it onto the coffee table and found her cell phone moving across the shiny surface, vibrating.
    “Yes?” she said, when she had cornered it against her compact.
    “Director, it’s Holly Barker.”
    “Hello, Holly. Has anyone ever put that to music?”
    “No, but someone once wrote dirty lyrics to the tune of ‘Hello Dolly’ for my fortieth birthday party.”
    “I suppose that was inevitable.”
    “Apparently so.”
    “What have you to report?”
    “I have screwed the lid down a little tighter on Kelli Keane. One of our New York people has equipped James Rutledge’s apartment for video and sound.”
    “Do they lead lives of quiet desperation?”
    “Hardly, ma’am. You wouldn’t believe their sex life.”
    Kate roared with laughter. “Be sure and copy me on the sauciest bits.”
    “Certainly, ma’am.”
    “Has the woman spilled any beans yet?”
    “Not on our tapes, but our man discovered that the place had already been bugged with audio devices before he got there. Unfortunately, we were not privy to what was heard before our equipment arrived.”
    “Any way to find out?”
    “We can try to find out who purchased the previous equipment.”
    “Please do. I worry about the New York station having too little to do.”
    “It does seem very quiet whenever I’m there,” Holly admitted.
    “It occurs to me that you always seem happiest when you return from New York. Is there something there that entertains you?”
    “You might say that,” Holly replied.
    “It occurs to me that you might manage this particular task more easily if you were at the New York station for a time.”
    “Your suggestion is my command,” Holly said. “I’ll leave tomorrow morning.”
    “And we may reach you at Stone Barrington’s number?”
    “Nice try, ma’am. I’ll be reachable on my cell at all times.”
    “Enjoy yourself, then, and let me know if there’s any change in the position of the lid on Ms. Keane.”
    “Certainly, ma’am,” Holly replied. “Have a nice evening.”
    Kate hung up.
    “How’s that thing going?” Will asked.
    “Holly appears to have a grip on the problem. So far, she’s getting video from the apartment of a lot of bedroom action.”
    Will laughed. “So that’s what you were talking about: seeing the ‘saucy bits.’”
    “It’ll have to do for fun, until we can have more non-D.C. sex,” she replied.
    —
    Holly called Stone.
    “Hello, there,” Stone said. “Am I hallucinating, or did we just talk moments ago?”
    “You’re not hallucinating. Think you can put up with me for another little while?”
    “Funny, I was just thinking about putting up with you. How long do I get to do that?”
    “I might stretch it into a week, unless something terrible happens somewhere in the world.”
    “Something terrible is always happening somewhere in the world.”
    “I mean somewhere in the world that requires my attention.”
    “That would be right here in this house.”
    “You say the nicest things.”
    “I do the nicest things, too.”
    “And I will look forward to that.”
    “Is your trip to do with our Ms. Keane?”
    “Yes, but that’s only an excuse to come.”
    “Any excuse will do,” Stone said. “Let yourself in whenever you arrive, and I’ll book